New power source for handheld devices

Low battery life is the major problem for handheld devices like smartphones. Now a days smartphones are die after hours of heavy use. Most of the tech companies and researchers are try to solve this problem using modern technologies.

Scientists have developed a new technology that could lead to next gen wearable computers with self contained power sources. The technology could reduce energy consumption in mobile devices by tapping into the power of a single electron to control energy consumption inside transistors of most modern electronic systems.

As per the Journal Nature Communications - Researchers from the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas found that by adding a specific atomic thin film layer to a transistor, the layer acted as a filter for the energy that passed through it at room temperature. The signal that resulted from the device was six to seven times steeper than that of traditional devices. Steep devices use less voltage but still have a strong signal.

Tapping into the unique and subtle behavior of a single electron is the most energy-efficient way to transmit signals in electronic devices. Since the signal is so small, it can be easily diluted by thermal noises at room temperature. To see this quantum signal, engineers and scientists who build electronic devices typically use external cooling techniques to compensate for the thermal energy in the electron environment. The filter created by researchers is one route to effectively filter out the thermal noise.

Dr Kyeongjae "KJ" Cho, professor of materials science and engineering and physics and an author of the paper, said transistors made from this filtering technique could revolutionise the semiconductor industry.

Each time a device such as a smartphone or a tablet computes it requires electrical power for operation. Reducing operating voltage would mean longer shelf lives for these products and others. Lower power devices could mean computers worn with or on top of clothing that would not require an outside power source, among other things, researchers said. To create the technology, researchers added a chromium oxide thin film onto the device. That layer, at room temperature, filtered the cooler, stable electrons and provided stability to the device.